WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?                                                                                 JULY 1, 2007

2 KINGS 2:1-14                                                                                                              BFUMC

DRESS REHEARSAL

I’m preaching what really isn’t a series at the moment, but an attempt to sift through the recommended readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, and pick a text for detailed analysis.  I’ll try to alter between NT and OT texts, gospels and epistles.  This week from 2 Kings, the story of the passing of the mantle from Elijah to Elisha.  The story has a certain pattern to it, does it not?  It starts with what God is going to do; ‘when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind . . .’  There are only several people of whom the Bible speaks as having been taken up into heaven directly from earth: Enoch, Moses, Elijah.  This puts Elijah into a very elite category of spiritual perfection.

We have a pattern of three and two involved in this passage.  Three times, Elijah tries to persuade Elisha to remain behind with the words, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel/Jericho/Jordan.”  Three times, Elisha strongly resists the suggestion that he remain behind with the exact same words, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”  So they move on together.

Two times, the prophets of the place to which they have gone gather and regale Elijah with the words, “Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?”  He responds each time with the words, “Yes, I know, but do not speak about it.”

When they arrive at the Jordan river, they are again accompanied by prophets watching from a distance.  Elijah takes his cloak, rolls it up and strikes the river.  It splits into two, and they pass between.  Elijah asked Elisha, “What can I do for you before I am taken?”  Elisha responds, “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit.”  Elijah responded, “You’ve asked a hard thing. Yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours – otherwise not.”

THE ELIJAH-MOSES CONNECTION

Let’s stop right there and think about the story up until this point.  Several things stand out.  First, there are several features of the story that I believe are meant to remind the reader of Moses and Joshua.  In other words, the transfer of authority from Elijah to Elisha is to be understood as something like that between Moses and Joshua.  Two references are made.  First, the movement from Gilgal, to Bethel to Jericho, to the Jordan gets you right back to the place where the transfer was made.  Moses died right before the passed through the Jordan, on its banks almost.  So they are standing at just about the place where Moses died.  And all the other cities mentioned were key cities in Joshua’s campaign to conquer the promised land after Moses died.

The second is a bit clearer; the fact that Elijah took his cloak and slapped the Jordan river and it dried up.  The last time that had happened it was with Joshua.  Moses also famously held the rod over the Red Sea and it parted so that they were able to pass on dry ground.  So the author wants us to think of Moses and Joshua here.  Why?  What is the signification of this association?  I think it was a successful transfer of authority.  The Lord promised to be with Joshua just as he was with Moses and Joshua was a moses-like leader.  It is easy for people to be skeptical of new leadership and to say, “we followed Moses but we’re not following you!”

But Elisha is the new Elijah with Moses-like authority.  This is about a successful God-ordained transfer of power.  It is sometimes hard for us to let a new leader take their place.  “There will never be anyone like Moses!”  That isn’t so.  Those attitudes can really hinder the long-term health of any church because authority must be allowed to transfer from one generation to the next.  We’ve got to be ok with this and allow God to work through new people.

ELISHA’S SPIRITUAL PERSISTENCE

I think it is fairly clear that the writer of II Kings wants us to notice something about Elisha.  There is a spiritual persistence about him that is remarkable.  This is deeply woven into the story.  Elijah three times attempts to put Elijah off with the words, “Stay here, the LORD has sent me to Bethel.”  Elijah is obviously trying to test Elisha’s spiritual fitness and determination for the task of being the head of this band of prophets.  And that is worth explaining.  These bands of prophets, or “Sons of Prophets” (they took a father/child relationship to the head of the band) are mentioned periodically in Kings.  They functioned as prophets in training, and probably were bivocational proclaimers of the divine word.  But they saw themselves as in apprenticeship to Elijah.  Elijah is in a position of some authority and prestige in Israel.  When a prophet needs to address the King, Elijah is the one to do it.  There is no question about who to ask, or who represents the word of Yahweh.

Elijah repeatedly tests Elisha’s nerve.  This is a classic case of a spiritual endurance course.  Elijah is giving Elisha every opportunity to drop by the wayside.  Elijah’s persistence pays off.  Interestingly, it is almost as if Elijah is trying to get away to go up to God alone.  In saying, “The LORD has sent me to ….” he’s saying in a way, “The LORD hasn’t sent you!  You’re not invited to this party!  Stay home!”  It is a pretty strong statement and command which Elisha refuses to obey.  The other prophets stayed put in each instance.  In other words, the text makes clear that while they all knew about Elijah’s impending graduation, only Elisha followed along.

There are many stories in scripture that magnify the spiritual value of persistence.  Of course we know the story Jesus told of the persistent widow who sought help from the unjust judge.  Finally, after she refused to give the judge any rest, he heard her case just to shut her up.  Abraham’s persistence in his offering of Isaac, his faith that God would provide a lamb, his willingness to sacrifice all, is a biblical example.  But here, Elisha’s persistence is simply to follow, to be with, to go through and be with Elijah at this time of magnification.  We’re reminded of Peter, James and John following Jesus into the garden and being honored to experience the transfiguration.

God admires persistence.  God requires persistence.  God wants us to persist to the end.  We hate persistence.  We want to give up after three tries.  God wants us to try three hundred times.  We want to drop out of the race after the first loss.  God is waiting for us to run a marathon.  We’re like the disciples falling asleep in the garden; the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  I’m reminded of the promise in Hebrews that we will find the Lord if we will sincerely seek.  Elisha is an example of that!

ELISHA’S SPIRITUAL FOCUS

There is another feature of the story which requires some thought.  Every time prophets in these prophetic bands spoke to Elisha, they asked, “Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?”  The Hebrew says something a little different.  Literally, it says, “Don’t you know that today the LORD is taking your master (Elijah) from over your head?”  This of course, refers to a position of leadership.  In other words, they are asking, “Don’t you know that your head/authority is going to be taken from over you today?”  They are asking Elisha if he realized the great opportunity for advancement that will soon be his.  He is the obvious heir-apparent, the one who has something to be gained by this pending development.  Remember, being the chief Yahweh representative in Israel is a great honor.  These are the men who stand before kings and deliver Yahweh’s word.

Elisha’s response is emphatic.  He tells them to be still and quiet.  This is really significant because he is saying here, “That may be true but that is not what I’m interested in at the moment.”  Elisha refuses to take this opportunistic perspective.  It isn’t an opportunity for an advancement, it is the loss of a father.  He does not celebrate when Elijah is taken up, but he shouts out, “My Father!  My Father!  The chariot of Israel and its horseman!”  He grieves publicly by tearing his clothes apart.  When you think of all the effort and cost that would have gone into clothing in the ancient world, this was a powerful gesture of grief and mourning.  It says in affect, “What I have lost is of such great importance, the value of these clothes means nothing to me.” 

So on one hand, Elisha plays the role of a person who is not seeking advancement, not overly concerned about his spiritual career, not pushing Elijah aside for his future glory.  He grieves deeply and only reluctantly picks up the mantle.  That is, it is clear Elisha would rather have Elijah’s direct presence that only his mantle.

ELISHA’S PORTION – 2X OR 2/3?

But that is not to say that Elisha is not interested in leadership.  There is another side of Elisha that is spiritually eager, insistent, persistent, and hungry for prophetic success.  We’ve already seen his persistence in following Elijah through to the end.  But also, Elijah asks him when they have passed through the Jordan, “What can I do for you?”  Elisha’s response is characteristically difficult to translate.  The English makes it sound easy, “I want a double portion of your spirit.”  The Hebrew is actually literally rendered, “I want two mouthfuls of your spirit (piy snayim).”  This phrase piy snayim is found in only two other places (Deut 21:17 and Zech 13:8).  In both cases it clearly means 2/3’s. 

I like the 2/3rds translation and the more I think about it, the more I believe it is the correct translation.  It makes best sense here.  He isn’t assuming to ever be twice the prophet Elijah was.  He only hoped to be two-thirds the man.  Even this was a hard thing for Elijah, but he was going to try.  He responded, “If you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours – otherwise not.”  I’m not sure the significance of seeing Elijah – why that is critical in whether or not Elisha receives his double-spirit.  But it is clear that if Elisha hadn’t followed Elijah right through to the end, he wouldn’t have been asked this critical question, and he wouldn’t have been able to make his request.  He probably still would have become the next prophet-in-chief of Israel.  He was clearly the one Elijah was grooming for the task. 

But Elisha knew he needed more than simply the office of prophet-in-chief, he needed the spirit of Elijah (the Holy Spirit of God really) which gave Elijah the power and authority to function as such a potent witness for Yahweh.  He needed at least 2/3 Elijah’s spirit for the task.  And the end of the story makes clear that Elisha received exactly what he asked for.  Just as Elijah had spit the Jordan river with his cloak, Elisha shouted, “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?”  The message is clear; Elisha is the new Elijah is the new Moses.

WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?

I want to focus for a moment on Elijah’s piecing question, “What can I do for you, Elisha?”  Elijah knew that Elisha would be following him in his office.  He knew why Elisha was following him.  But he asked Elisha to verbalize this himself.  What do you want me to do for you?  Elisha had to ask.  Even though he was asking for a hard thing, he had to ask.  Somehow, when Elisha picked up the mantle, he knew he had the answer, for it was for him a symbol of the authority and power of the office.  But he still had to ask for the 2/3rds portion of the Spirit.

I wonder if God is asking us as a church or as individuals, “What can I do for you?  What do you want me to do for you?”  This is a question that gets asked only to those who are persistent enough to hear the answer.  The others are left on the opposite shore of the Jordan.  What do we want God to do for us?  What do we need God to do for us?  Are we willing to ask?  Are we going to be persistent in our asking?  What do we really need from God?  What do you really need from God?  What are you asking from God right now?  What goes to the center of your heart?

I hope we have the wisdom to ask for what Elisha asked for – a double portion of the Spirit.  We have a calling and a task that truly goes beyond anything we can accomplish on our own.  This is my prayer as we take communion today.  God, give me a double portion of your spirit.  Give me your power to speak your word prophetically!  Give us as a church the power of your spirit to do the task to which you have called us.  Let’s make this our prayer as we take communion today!